Before I Let You Go
by ImJustEmily
Summary: They've had a fight and Lexie's not sure what to do about it .. except avoid him of course.


**A/N: Vicky was sad because she had no Slexie to read so this happened. Idk just a little angsty snapshot I guess. Enjoy~**

* * *

Sighing as she turns the television set off Lexie slumps back into the couch cushions. The house is silent now the annoying nattering of morning talk show hosts has been cut off and she doesn't like it, the walls feel like they're suffocating her. Opening the sliding doors to let the sounds from outside into the house she remembers she'd promised her sister that she was going to sort the photographs from Zola's birthday, it was something to take her mind off everything and she needed that more than ever right now. Every little thing reminded her of Mark or triggered a memory of something they had done together and she couldn't deal with the heavy weight of the sadness weighing down her heart any more. Shuffling through the prints she's left on the counter after she picked them up earlier a smile breaks out across Lexie's face. Her little niece could not be cuter if she tried.

She tells herself she's not spending every minute dwelling on the fight any more, that she won't replay it over and over in her head. Settling down at the table in the dining room she began to slot them into the album until she saw a photo that made her hands shake. Neither of them are looking at the camera or even each other; he was sharing a joke with Jackson and she fairly certain this was when she was eyeing up the birthday cake as Meredith brought it from the kitchen. She trails her finger along the line of his arm where it's slung so carelessly around her shoulders and she swears she can actually feel the warm, steady weight of it. Suddenly aware of the tears streaking down her face she drops the photo on top of the half-completed album and lets herself cry, she misses him so much and she can't figure out where it all went wrong after that stupid fight about buying a house together.

* * *

The next day at work Lexie goes about her duties as normal, checking in on a patient she and Owen had operated on the day before and sharing a joke with him as she changed the dressing on his incision. She wasn't doing it intentionally but she knew she spent more time trying to avoid Mark than she would care to admit, it was just easier than trying not to burst into tears at the sight of him. She didn't want him to officially end their relationship, the longer she hid from him the longer she could cling to the hope that everything was going to be fine. Fortunately he didn't have any surgeries scheduled today so she was heading towards the nurses station to drop off the completed chart without thinking about him, scanning it quickly to make sure she'd filled everything out when she walked straight into someone and a rushed apology fell from her lips.

Her heart sank as she raised her eyes from the chart; of all the people in the hospital of course it had to be Mark she ran straight into. Any thoughts of apology flew out of her head as she breathed in the familiar smell of him for the first time in fifteen days, her heart aching with the need to be in his arms.

"Don't you look where you're going Grey? You should be more careful." He admonishes her gruffly, making her feel about eleven years old.

Her shoulders lift in a shrug and she bites down on her lip trying to catch herself before she starts babbling. He's looking at her, right at her for the first time in two weeks and she isn't sure what the look means, all she knows is she's completely paralyzed under his gaze and couldn't move if she wanted to.

"Lex…" he trails off, the tone of his voice softening as it's rounding the syllables of her name, making her stomach twist in knots and she wonders if she's going to be sick, this could be the moment she's been dreading.

Swallowing hard she forces herself to hold his gaze, tries not to let her feelings show across her face but knowing she's failing miserable, anyone looking at her now would see how much she loved him, that she always had and she always was going to love Mark Sloan. Lexie nodded slowly, she didn't trust herself to speak right now without those words spilling out of her mouth.

"I-" he stops again and she tears her eyes away as they fill with tears. She doesn't want him to see her crying and she's about to open her mouth to make up a reason to leave when he finishes the sentence. "I miss you Lex."

Her jaw drops and she's stammering complete nonsense, her heart is swelling with elation even though she can't work out what exactly this means. His fingers trace her lips, quieting her quickly as she continues to stutter. Her eyelids flutter closed as she tries to hold herself together and the pressure from his fingertips disappears, returning promptly as his lips brush across hers so lightly she's half sure she's imagining them being there.

"I don't want to fight any more." Her eyes snap open and she wonders if this is the moment she becomes the latest in the line of Mark's exes. "I love you, I don't understand why you won't let me buy us a house but I love you and I guess that's all that matters right now."

Lexie's eyes widen at his revelation and a giggle erupts from within her. "Oh my god, you thought I didn't want to move in with you?" She manages to curb her laughter, sobering herself and shaking her head, one hand on Mark's chest. "I just wanted _us_ to buy a house. Not you. Us. Together." She shrugs lightly and reaches up to kiss him.

Now it's Mark's turn to look shocked, a happy relief spreading clearly across his face at the misunderstanding and he scoops her up into his arms, deepening the kiss until they're interrupted by a loud cough beside them.

"I believe you got called in to consult on my patient?" Derek looks at Mark pointedly. "Not to kiss my sister-in-law." Mark grins sheepishly and pecks Lexie on the lips quickly before leaving. Derek winks before following his best friend. "Glad to see the pair of you have finally made up little Grey."

Left standing alone at the nurses station with a happy grin stretching across her face and the taste of her boyfriend on her lips, Lexie sticks her hands in her pockets and spins around to find Owen and see what time they're scrubbing in, the renewed spring in her step evident for all to see.


End file.
